JOHN WESLEY HARDING

"I was gonna write a ballad on ... like maybe one of
those old cowboy ... you know, a real long ballad. But in the middle of the
second verse, I got tired. I had a tune, and I didn't want to waste the tune,
it was a nice little melody, so I just wrote a quick third verse, and I
recorded that ... I knew people were gonna listen to that song and say that
they didn't understand what was going on, but they would've singled that song
out later, if we hadn't called the album John Wesley Harding and placed so much
importance on that, for people to start wondering about it ... if that hadn't
been done, that song would've come up and people would have said it was a
throw-away song."

John Wesley Harding
Was a friend to the poor
He trav’led with a gun in ev’ry hand
All along this countryside
He opened many a door
But he was never known
To hurt an honest man.

’Twas down in Chaynee County
A time they talk about
With his lady by his side
He took a stand
And soon the situation there
Was all but straightened out
For he was always known
To lend a helping hand.

All across the telegraph
His name it did resound
But no charge held against him
Could they prove
And there was no man around
Who could track or chain him down
He was never known
To make a foolish move.